


Over My Head

by jhutchlover22, JLaLa



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Loosely Based on a show, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-06-17
Packaged: 2018-04-02 04:49:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4046659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jhutchlover22/pseuds/jhutchlover22, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JLaLa/pseuds/JLaLa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At Panem Hospital, Dr. Primrose Everdeen tries to make her mark in the medical world. If only her mentor wasn’t also her one-night stand…</p>
<p>Based loosely on the show, Grey's Anatomy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

The characters of The Hunger Games Trilogy do not belong to any of us.

Over My Head

_Part One_

Her head was killing her.

Primrose Everdeen opened her eyes, tasting whiskey and mint in the back of her throat. She looked around the living room seeing nothing out of disarray, except for the fact that she was laying on the floor.

Looking down, Prim realized that she was wearing nothing but an oversized navy button-down.

And, that she had rug burn in some unmentionable places.

“Oh shit—what time is it?” She found her purse next to the coffee table and took out her phone to check the clock. “DAMN IT!”

“Something wrong?”

Prim turned to see a dark-haired, _shirtless_ man leaning against the archway of living room. He gave her a handsome smile as he approached and handed her the Johns Hopkins mug that she had stolen from her alma mater.

“Here—something to help you get on your feet.”

She took a quick sip, cream and two Splendas—just like she liked it.

“I’m late,” she told the man as she handed back the mug. “I’m starting this internship today—and I need to get ready!” Prim gave him a rushed smile. “So you need to get out!”

“But, I can’t leave,” he replied.

She looked at him in exasperation. “Why?”

The grey-eyed man smirked, his eyes suddenly wandering down.

“Because, you’re wearing my shirt.”

Prim looked to the button-down. “Oh.” Hurriedly, she undid the shirt and tossed it at the man, not really caring that she was running around naked in front of him.

Judging by her lack of clothes and the rug burn, Prim assumed they had sex.

She recalled meeting him last night at the bar after having a few drinks with the other interns.

Prim had always been a sucker for a cute smile.

Throwing on the dress that she wore the night before, she turned to see the man buttoning up his shirt, but not before catching a glimpse of rich olive skin and a six-pack.

Prim was sucker for those, too.

“So, it was nice meeting you…” She tapped her foot as she tried to recall his name. “…uh—”

“You don’t know my name,” he teased her.

“It’ll come back to me!” Prim took his hand and led him to the front door. “I just need to clear my head.”

Opening the door, the man stepped onto her porch and pulled her along. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he gave her a gentle smile.

“So, you never forget…” He placed a kiss on her forehead. “G…” His lips traveled behind her left ear. “A…” Then, behind her right as she bit back a moan. “L…” And, to her lips, where he caressed her whiskey-lined tongue with his. “E.”

“Gale,” she whispered against his lips before pulling away, still feeling the tingle of his kiss. “It was great meeting you.”

++++++

“Oh God, did you hear?” Johanna Mason, one of Prim’s fellow interns, said as she tied her dark chin-length hair back into a ponytail. “The Mockingjay is one of the doctors that will be leading an intern team.”

“Who the hell is that?” Thresh, another intern, asked as he joined them.

Prim smirked to herself as she tied her shoes—she was well aware of who ‘The Mockingjay’ was.

“She’s the S-H-I-T of this hospital, brainless!” Johanna informed the man. “Heard about her last night at the reception. She came up with the newest incision technique for cranial surgeries. Using her method can reduce the risk of hemorrhage by 80%—and in Neurosurgery, that’s huge.”

“Then, why is she called ‘The Mockingjay’?” Madge, another intern, asked as she unbuttoned her shirt to put her scrubs on.

Thresh, as well as a few other men _and_ female interns, admired her creamy skin. It was common knowledge that Madge was a former model turned hopeful doctor.

“It was a nickname that she got in med school,” Prim answered without thinking. “Her boyfriend now husband made it up because she used to whistle this weird tune, over and over, while doing rounds. It’s how all the patients and doctors knew she was coming. Eventually, it was a way that patients called her when they wanted her help—and no one else’s.”

“I’ve never heard that story,” Cato, the blond haired man, who was changing next to her, remarked. He gave her a shy smile. “You must have done your research.”

“Kind of,” she replied.

A tall, dark-skinned man with round glasses suddenly stepped into the locker room, a clipboard in his hands.

“Alright interns!” he called out loudly and the room quieted down. “My name is Dr. Beetee Latier. Welcome to your first day at Panem Hospital! For the next twenty-four hours, you belong to us. You are at the beck and call of your intern leader and most importantly, your patients. Within two weeks, half of you will be gone. At least, three of you will be kicked out of the program—and to the rest of you…may God have mercy on your soul! When I call your name, come to the front and you will report to your respective Doctor.” The man looked at the clipboard that he held. “First group—Mason, Undersee, Dixon, Snow, and Everdeen!”

Prim rushed to the front and Dr. Latier briefly met her eyes. She nodded briefly before Johanna joined her, followed by Madge, Thresh, and finally Cato.

“You five—Dr. Mellark,” he informed them. “She’s at the nurses’ station.”

Quickly, they all scrambled out of the room.

“Oh my God—we got ‘The Mockingjay’,” Johanna said as they walked down the hallway. “I wonder what she’s going to be like.”

“Smart as hell,” Madge informed her. “She had one of the highest MCAT and licensing scores ever recorded and every hospital was vying for her. I don’t know why she settled for Panem…”

“Wasn’t it because of her family?” Thresh said as they neared the station.

“Yeah,” Cato confirmed. “Something to do with her mother.”

“Wait.” Johanna stopped a few feet away from the nurses’ station. “Is that her?”

Everyone’s eyes went to the onyx-haired woman with the single braid running down the back of her white coat.

“She’s really…young,” Cato observed.

“Graduated two years earlier than everyone else in her class,” Prim suddenly said.

The woman turned to them, her ash-colored eyes narrowing as she examined each of them. Her eyes stopped on Prim, softening just slightly.

“Well, get over here,” Dr. Mellark called to them firmly.

They hesitated.

“MOVE!” She suddenly yelled.

The five of them ran to the nurses’ station.

“I am Dr. Mellark—one of the neurosurgeons here in Panem Hospital,” the woman began in a sharp voice. “Not to be mistaken for the other Dr. Mellark, my husband and head of the Neonatal Ward—he will actually allow you to call him Peeta. I will _not_ allow you to call me by first name.” She looked over them once more. “Everyone grab a pager and let’s move!”

Dr. Mellark led them through the hospital, explaining that they would be meeting the different patients of Panem Hospital and finding ways to assist them.

“For the next twenty-four hours, your lives are not your own,” Dr. Mellark explained. “You belong to our patients—and no one else.”

Dr. Mellark then began to hand out their assignments. Cato was first; he was assigned to the other Dr. Mellark in the Neonatal ward.

“The other Dr. Mellark is a hottie,” Johanna said in a low voice. She and Madge stared at the blond, blue-eyed Doctor as the group stood on the Neonatal floor. “I’d totally let him give me a physical.”

Prim felt her stomach turn at the words.

“Only problem is that he only has eyes for his wife,” Madge remarked watching the two Dr. Mellarks, who were speaking briefly. “There’s a definite light in their eyes when they talk to each other.”

“You!” Dr. Mellark, the female one, marched over to them. Her eyes went to Johanna and she eyed her before smirking. “You’re doing prostate exams today—2nd Floor.”

“Fuck!” Johanna muttered under her breath.

“Do you have an issue, Dr. Mason?” Dr. Mellark asked in a hard voice.

“No, Dr. Mellark,” Johanna said before heading to the elevator.

“The rest of you, follow me.”

They continued on and Thresh was later assigned to the ER where he would be assisting Dr. Odair, one of the doctors who ran the floor.

Madge was then assigned to Dr. Annie Cresta—Head Cardiologist—and renowned surgeon. The woman had recently rescued local celebrity Caesar Flickerman after he had collapsed on the stage of his show when his pacemaker malfunctioned.

Dr. Cresta had done the forty-hour surgery that had saved the man’s life.

Finally, it was just Prim and Dr. Mellark.

Prim looked to the woman and gave her a nod. “And, where am I going, _Dr_. Mellark?”

“Just answer this one question, Dr. Everdeen,” the woman said as they turned and walked down into an empty hall. “Where did you go after you left the welcome reception?”

“I had some drinks with the other interns,” Prim informed her. “It was my last night of freedom.”

“No one said that you had to become a doctor, Prim,” Dr. Mellark said in a soft voice. “And, right now—it can be Katniss.” She gave Prim a smile. “I don’t suspect that anyone knows that we’re sisters, do they?”

“We have different last names and look nothing alike,” Prim assured her big sister. “Peeta really did make you sound scary last night to some of the interns.”

“It’s just a game that he likes to play,” Katniss replied with a grin. “Helps weed out the weaklings. We need strong players for this hospital—and I know that you’re going to be one.”

Prim grinned at her. “I hope so.” They continued to walk down the hallway. “So, you saw Johanna checking out Peeta, didn’t you? Is that why you assigned her on prostate duty?”

Katniss laughed and put an arm around her. “I’ve got to have some fun!”

“Speaking of fun, where am I getting assigned?” Prim asked her.

“For you—with the highest recommendations and record-breaking MCAT scores, you will be assigned to the best of the best, our top neurosurgeon—Dr. Hawthorne,” Katniss told her. “He’s going to be a great advisor and is going to help you be on your top game—there he is!”

Her sister looked behind her and waved.

“GALE! Come meet my little sister!”

_Oh shit. No—not him._

“Dr. Mellark,” the deep-voiced man admonished in an easy voice. “We’re supposed to be professionals!”

Yes, he was _very_ professional—he didn’t rip any of the buttons off of her dress when he took it off.

“Oh, come off it, Gale,” Katniss said to the man she was talking to. “You weren’t acting like this when you were at our house and watching the game with Peeta!”

“Fair enough,” he responded. “So, you’re little sister…”

“Yes!” Katniss placed her hands on Prim’s shoulders and practically force-turned her. “This is my sister, Prim Everdeen.”

Gale Hawthorne’s silver eyes widened seeing her crimson face.

Prim could do this. She was a professional and she was going to become a great doctor.

And, yes—she and Gale could get past the fact that they had fucked up and down the carpet of her parents’ house.

Suddenly, Gale’s mouth slowly moved up into a slight smirk.

“I told you not to forget me,” he told her as he held out his hand.

“Now, I never will,” Prim responded before shaking it.

She was fucked.

* * *

 

This was originally a prompt suggested to me on Tumblr by hysterical-for-joshifer and amenityeverlark since we all have a deep love for the show, _Grey’s Anatomy_.

As always, feedback is always welcomed!

Until the next chapter…


	2. Part Two

The characters of The Hunger Games Trilogy do not belong to any of us.

Over My Head

_Part Two_

She couldn’t be Katniss’ little sister.

This beautiful woman standing in front of him, sky-blue eyes and plush pink lips—which, Gale could still remember kissing—was not the same girl whose picture was sitting on top of the mantle of the Mellark stone fireplace.

As their hands pulled apart, Gale let out a nervous laugh. “You don’t have the braces anymore.”

Prim cocked her head at him. “Braces…” She suddenly whipped her head over at Katniss, who was trying to smother a laugh. “Did you really put up my picture from my freshmen year of high school?”

“It’s adorable,” her sister replied in defense. “Your hair is in two braids and you had those glasses that the hipsters think are cool now—”

Prim shook her head before looking back to him, her creamy skin tinted with rosy embarrassment but her eyes brave.

“Dr. Hawthorne, I assure you that despite the humiliating picture at Dr. Mellark’s residence; I am not the girl in the picture anymore.”

“I know you aren’t,” he told her sincerely.

Gale didn’t see the awkward girl in the school picture.

The woman in front of him was the woman at the bar.

The woman with the laugh that sent a shiver down his spine when he first heard it across the crowded room; the woman whom he spent his lonely evening watching as she drank beers with her friends and danced along with the honky-tonk jukebox music.

And, she was the woman whose kiss tasted of whiskey and mint.

Even now, Gale could remember how easily she seemed to fit against him.

But, most of all, he couldn’t forget that first look.

How their eyes met across the room and Prim had boldly walked over to him, still steady despite the beers and asked him why he had stared at her the whole night.

“I’m glad that you see that,” Prim replied a quiet voice.

“Have you two met before?” Katniss asked him.

Gale turned to his friend. “I met her—” Prim’s eyes flashed in panic. “—at the reception.”

“I thought you left early,” Katniss said to him. “You told us that you needed to check on something at your place.”

“Well, we didn’t meet per se,” Gale explained. “It was more that our eyes met across the room.”

Katniss’ grey eyes narrowed in suspicion. He could feel a lecture coming from his stern friend.

“So, you wanted me to shadow Dr. Hawthorne?” Prim interrupted to stop her sister’s hard stare down. Katniss had that look that would make a person confess to anything, even things that they never did at all.

“Yes.” Katniss’ eyes went to Prim, who smiled innocently at her. “Gale, I think you were about to do your rounds, weren’t you?”

“Right,” he agreed before looking to Prim. “Shall we?”

“WAIT!” Prim rolled her eyes as Katniss pulled out her phone. “I wanted to take a picture and send it to Haymitch.”

The woman at his side rolled her eyes. “Katniss…”

“Just one!” Katniss insisted. “Gale, stand right there and put your arm around her!”

Gale laughed as a groan escaped Prim’s lips. To placate Katniss, he put an arm around Prim’s shoulders and pulled her against him.

God, this felt right.

“Smile!”

Katniss quickly snapped the photo and, as soon as the picture was taken, she was back to being ‘The Mockingjay’, her playful eyes suddenly firm.

“I’d like a full report on Margaret Potter as soon as you’ve seen her,” Katniss told him before looking to Prim and nodding. “Dr. Everdeen—good luck.”

++++++

_Neonatal Ward_

Dr. Peeta Mellark laughed as he looked at the picture of a frowning Prim and an amused Gale that Katniss had sent to his phone. His wife was immensely proud of her little sister.

So proud that she spent half the night up in excitement—and she had kept him up with her.

He finally silenced her with a kiss, which led to more—and that kept them up for the rest of the night.

“Look.” Peeta held out his phone to Cato, the nervous intern who he had to keep an eye on for the next 20 or so hours. “My wife can’t help but show her kid sister off.”

“Prim is Dr. Mellark’s little sister?” Cato asked. “She never mentioned it while we were all having drinks.”

“Prim wants to make it just by being a good doctor and not because she is Dr. Mellark’s sister,” Peeta told the man as they walked over to the first incubator. “Dr. Snow, please tell me about our first patient.”

“Cassie Kingston,” Cato informed him. “Delivered at thirty-two weeks.  Patient’s mother suffered from preeclampsia, which caused early labor and eventual delivery. Mother is being treated for the after-effects of early delivery with medication and dialysis for, hopefully, temporary renal failure.”

“And, our patient?” Peeta reached into the side inserts of the incubator to feel Cassie’s fragile wrist. Her pulse was there—definitely strong, and there was definitely more color in her.

“Antibiotics to keep infection away,” Cato informed Dr. Mellark. “Though only sparingly.”

The two men continued their walk around the small ward. He introduced Cato to Effie, who was the Head Nurse of the Neonatal Ward. The woman with her brightly colored scrubs admired Peeta’s innocent little intern.

It was common knowledge that Effie liked them young.

And, Effie would probably eat Cato alive.

“Who’s the man in the picture with Prim?” Cato asked suddenly. “Looks familiar.”

“That’s Dr. Hawthorne,” Peeta said as he eyed the man next to him. He could tell that Cato had a crush on his little sister—it was all in his soft eyes. “Top neurosurgeon at Panem Hospital, besides my wife, and Head of the Neurosurgery Unit.”

“No…” Cato shook his head. “I’ve seen him somewhere else.” Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. “Now, I remember! He was at the bar last night—talking to Prim.”

And, something clicked in Peeta’s head.

Nother—anyone but Prim.

He was going to kill Gale.

++++++

“Sir, I’m going to need for you to relax,” Johanna told the man whom she stood behind.

Twenty-five.

Twenty-five prostate exams that she had done.

Now if this man would just relax, then the total would be twenty-six.

“Doctor, I’m having a hard time trying to do this,” her patient, a slightly rotund man, informed her. “I mean—you’re a chick trying to stick her finger up my ass.”

Well, she was about to be a chick that was going to put a fist up his ass, if he wasn’t careful.

“I’m going to give you a few minutes to relax and then we’ll try again, okay?” Johanna told the man.

Taking off her gloves, she tossed them into the nearby garbage then washed her hands before leaving the exam room.

Johanna didn’t sign up for this.

She didn’t leave her shitty ex-boyfriend, go to med school, and then graduate at the top of her class just so she could stick a finger up a guy’s ass.

If she wanted to do that, she would’ve just stayed with her ex.

Turning into an empty corridor, Johanna leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath, closing her eyes in an attempt to shut out the world.

In a few hours, she would be in her hotel room, her temporary home, where she could relax with cable television—and her vibrator.

“I need to get laid,” she whispered under her breath.

“Bad day?”

Peeking out through one eye, Johanna found a tall dark-haired man peering at her, a smirk on his lips and laughter in his steel eyes. He was in a pair of black scrubs so she knew that he didn’t work in Panem Hospital—but there was a badge clipped to the front pocket of his shirt and she opened her eyes to look at his name.

Haymitch Abernathy. That’s a weird one.

“Bad life,” she groaned. “My first day as an intern here and I’m stuck doing prostate exams. Dr. Mellark hates me—just because I looked at her husband the wrong way!”

The man chuckled at her words. “Katniss can get possessive, but it’s only because she’s had very few solid people in her life—Peeta being one of the select few.” He held out his hand. “Dr. Haymitch Abernathy.”

She took his hand, observing the firmness of his shake. “Dr. Johanna Mason.”

“I used to work here but now I run my own non-profit clinic,” he explained as she began her walk back to the exam room. “I like to stop in once in a while since I know a lot of the staff.” They stop in front of her designated room. “Did you need help in there?”

“You don’t want to go in there,” Johanna assured him. “It’s not pretty.”

“I’ve had my daily fill of pretty anyway,” Dr. Abernathy replied as he stared at her. “Let me help you.”

Sighing, she opened the door and together, the two walk in.

Her patient’s eyes widened at the sight of tall, lean Dr. Abernathy and Johanna’s eyes admiringly went to his hands—big hands and long fingers.

She _really_ needed to get laid.

“You’re definitely not going to get his finger in there,” her patient informed them tersely as he assumed his position.

“I’m not going to be doing the exam,” Dr. Abernathy explained calmly. “I’m only assisting her.” Johanna put on her gloves and Haymitch nodded at her to begin. “Now take a deep breath and tell me—how old do you think Dr. Mason is?”

Her patient turned to quickly glance at her. “Twenty-five?”

Haymitch frowned at his assessment. “That’s a shame.”

“Why?” The patient asked him curiously.

Johanna easily inserted her finger into the patient’s rectum, her finger pointing down to his belly button as she waited for his sphincter to relax.

“I wanted to ask Dr. Mason if she wanted to go to dinner,” Dr. Abernathy informed the man. “But, I’m afraid I draw the line at thirty—”

“I’m thirty, almost thirty-one,” she suddenly told him. Her patient’s sphincter relaxed as she spoke to Haymitch. “I started out a little later than the rest of the interns since I was working my way through med school and couldn’t get all the classes I needed at some points. But, I graduated at the top of my class at Stanford—”

“So, do you like Chinese?” Dr. Abernathy asked.

She moved her finger around identifying the prostate gland, feeling its familiar groves to confirm that her patient had no need to worry before answering.

“Yes.”

Haymitch grinned and God help her—she blushed like a fucking teenager.

“I know this Chinese restaurant,” her patient informed them as she removed her finger and took off her gloves. “Right down the street.”

She went to the garbage once more and took off her gloves, her eyes meeting Haymitch’s as she washed her hands at the sink.

“I go there all the time,” her patient replied jovially.

Johanna let out a laugh, the first one she had in hours. “I think we’re going to pass on that place!”

++++++

“I’m so tired,” Madge said as she sat next to Prim on the stretcher. She put her head on her friend’s shoulder. “I hate living at my Aunt’s house—all she does is ask me why I’m not married yet—‘ _Oh Madge, you’re such a pretty girl. Why do you need to be a doctor? With your looks, you can just marry one_.’”

She turned to Prim.

“I watched Dr. Cresta hold a human heart today,” she told Prim. “And, I knew that I wanted to do that one day. I wanted to be able to give someone their life back.”

“You’re a noble woman, Madge,” Prim replied in admiration. “You know, I’m living by myself. Maybe you should bunk with me.”

“Got any more room in your humble abode?” Johanna asked as she joined them on the stretcher, sitting next to Prim. “I’m so tired of my hotel-motel wannabe Holiday Inn…” She grinned at them. “Except maybe not so much tonight since I have a date.”

“Oh? With who?” Prim inquired with a teasing grin.

“Some doctor,” Johanna replied off-handedly. “Met him during a rectal exam.”

“Just another day in the Panem Hospital pig pen,” Thresh said as he walked over to them, a tired smile on his lips. He rested back against the opposite wall before sitting down. “You scored a date?”

“At least one of us is getting lucky,” Cato added as he joined Thresh on the floor. He looked up at Prim and grinned. “By the way, your _brother-in-law_ is a smart man.”

“OH SHIT! The Mockingjay is your sister!” Thresh said from where he sat. “Is that how you got in here?”

Prim bristled at his words. “No, that’s _not_ how I got here. I got in here because I went to Johns Hopkins and got the grades, plus the scores to come to this hospital. SO, FUCK YOU!” She jumped up from her seat and kicked Cato in the shin. “Thanks for ratting me out!”

Rushing down the hallway, Prim took a deep breath to halt the sudden threat of tears. She had never had an easy ride—and in just one day, her credibility was ruined because someone knew who her sister was.

“PRIM!” She turned to see Madge and Johanna rushing towards her. Madge put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. We won’t tell anyone.”

“Yeah—and those two? Fuck ‘em,” Johanna told her with a grin. “I can already tell that you’re a smart cookie.”

“Thanks,” Prim told them after a moment. “I have to get back. I’m going to meet Dr. Hawthorne’s new patient.”

She gave them both a small smile. For the first time, Prim felt that sense of belonging that she had longed for with the two women standing before her.

“You’re always welcome to live with me. Katniss and Peeta have their own place so I’ve been living at my family home by myself. And—it’d be nice to have company.”

++++++

“Margaret Potter—sixty-five year old female,” Prim stated as she went through the patient’s chart. “Brought in three days ago for grand-mal seizures though current cause is unknown. Patient has had CT and MRI scans over the last two days. Vitals are normal as are blood tests, though slight hypercoagulability was detected.”

“Mags, my love,” the woman said to her with a smile.

Prim met her eyes in confusion. “Excuse me?”

“Call me Mags.” The woman with her greying hair and kind brown eyes sat back in her hospital bed. “Margaret makes me feel like an old woman.”

“Well, you’re not even close, Mags,” Dr. Hawthorne said with a fond smile before turning to Prim. “Any ideas on why Mags is experiencing grand-mal seizures?”

Prim looked down at the chart. Everything looked perfectly normal except that the woman was having random seizures.

She knew that the next one could cause cardiac arrest or worse—it could kill the sweet woman.

“What do you do for fun, Mags?” Prim suddenly asked her. She sat down in the seat by the woman’s bed and took out a small notebook from her scrubs.

“I like gardening, dancing, and jogging with my group at the community center,” the woman said as Prim listed it all in her notebook. “I’m also in a book club.”

“And, did you do any of these activities within the last few days before your seizures?” she inquired.

Prim could feel Gale’s stare from behind her. He hadn’t said a word since she started so Prim assumed that he was alright with her interviewing Mags.

“I did all of them,” Mags replied. “Though, it got a little rough during my dance class.”

Prim looked up at her interest. “Really?”

“I didn’t really know what ‘twerking’ was—nor did I know that I went into the wrong class,” Mags said with a chuckle. “Fell on my bum and was a little sore after I made a wrong leg move, but other than that I felt completely normal.”

“Thanks, Mags,” Prim replied gratefully. “Dr. Hawthorne is going to do everything that he can to help you. I have complete faith in him.”

“I like you already,” Mags told her. She looked over at Dr. Hawthorne. “Now, this is a woman that you need to keep on your radar.”

“I’m trying, Mags,” Gale said as Prim stood. Turning, she met his dark eyes. “God knows, I’m trying.”

++++++

“So, what do you think is happening?”

Prim looked up from her seat in the lab to see Gale sitting down next to her.

She shrugged as she looked through her notes.

“A number of things,” she responded. “Maybe a book that she was reading had a visual trigger or running could have a caused something to jolt in her body. But, you didn’t spot any clots in her MRI?”

“Not in the usual places,” Gale told her.

She snorted. “That’s what’s wrong with doctors who have been in the field too long—they stop looking for the unusual—WAIT!”

Sorting through her notes, Prim found that one thing that seemed out of place for Mags.

Whipping around, Prim looked at her mentor.

“You did an MRI on her upper body?” Gale nodded in affirmation. “But, you didn’t check her legs. She said that she made a wrong move in dance class. It could’ve burst a clot—most likely a miniscule one because she didn’t feel any pain.”

Gale’s mouth fell open in realization.

“But, it would be effective enough to cause seizures—” He sat back down and took her hands in his as he stared at her in amazement. “Prim…”

“I can’t,” she suddenly said and saw the light in his eyes fade. “I can’t deal with all of that right now. I just have to keep my eyes on the game. People know that I’m The Mockingjay’s sister—and I really need to prove that I belong here.”

“You belong here,” Gale assured her and his lips reached to kiss her knuckles. She took a deep breath to calm the ache rising in her at his gentle caress. “You belong here with—” 

His beeper went off and the heated air between them dissipated.

“I have to answer this,” he told her, his eyes distractedly on his pager. “Order Mags’ MRI on her lower body—and I’ll check out the results when they come in.” Gale gave her a warm smile. “Great job for your first twenty-four, _Dr_. Everdeen.”

++++++

After handing Johanna and Mags their keys to her place, Prim drove her beat-up red Beetle upstate and to a large, stately mansion surrounded by lush forest.

Getting out of the car, Prim walked up to the porch and found Katniss already there.

“You didn’t have to wait for me,” Prim told her sister. “I would’ve followed in as soon as I got here.”

“I’m just a little on edge today,” Katniss replied, her arms wrapped around herself. Her sister looked tired and with her long dark hair framing her heart-shaped face, Katniss looked younger than her twenty-eight years. “By the way, Peeta wanted you to join us for dinner—has a new recipe that he wanted to try out on us.”

“Free food?” Prim laughed. “I’m always down.”

Together, the two walked into the house and greeted the front desk before heading into the library, her usual spot.

Stepping into the room, the lone occupant turned to them. Short blonde hair and anxious blue eyes greeted the sisters as they walked over to the elegant woman before sitting in the chairs across from her plush seat.

“Who are you?” she asked them in a nervous voice. “Are you doctors?”

Prim swallowed the lump in her throat seeing their mother in such a bad state. Six months ago, she had forgotten who they were, just as a few months before that she couldn’t remember their names.

“Yes,” Katniss told her gently. “We are both doctors.”

Katherine Everdeen looked blankly at them, her hand going to the bracelet on her wrist—a present that they had given her for Mother’s Day many years before.

“Haymitch said that he came to visit,” Katniss told her sister. “He said that she remembered him.”

“You know Haymitch?” Their mother asked as she continued to turn the bracelet on her wrist—over and over.

Over and over in an endless cycle of destruction that seemed to surround her and Katniss ever since their mother had been diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer’s.

“Yes, he’s our stepfather,” Prim informed her. She hoped that it would trigger their mother’s memory.

Katherine nodded in acknowledgement. “And, who is your mother?”

Prim bit back her tears. “You are. You are our mother.”

“Mom,” Katniss began. “It’s us—Katniss and Prim.” She took their mother’s hand carefully. “We came up since we had free time at the hospital. Prim had her first shift, two days ago. And, I wanted to tell you something.” She looked to Prim, a small smile on her face before looking to their mother. “I’m having a baby. You’re going to be a grandmother.”

“Oh my God!” Prim beamed at Katniss before leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Is that why you wanted me to come over?”

“Peeta is already planning the baby shower,” her sister replied, her grey eyes glowing. “We’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

Her sister and brother-in-law had struggled for a long time to conceive; it was their fifth year of marriage and they had been trying for three years.

Prim turned to their mother. “Can you believe it?”

The smile slid from her face seeing the sudden confusion in their mother’s blue eyes.

Katherine pulled her hand away from Katniss’ in panic. “What did you want?”

“Katniss is having a baby,” Prim repeated to her mother. She could see her sister faltering, her eyes filled with pain over the sudden relapse.

Usually Katniss could take it, but hormones had obviously taken over.

“Babies are a nuisance,” their mother spat suddenly. “I had two daughters and I hardly knew what to do with either. Repairing a torn aortic valve, I can do that in my sleep—but I couldn’t bring myself to deal with children, always staring at me…wanting and waiting for me…how could I tell them that I was incapable of loving either one of them?”

++++++

Katniss dried her eyes in the driver’s seat of her and Peeta’s black BMW.

She gave Prim a teary smile. “I don’t know what I was expecting.”

“You were expecting her to be happy,” Prim replied simply. “You were expecting her to be excited about being a grandmother—like any normal parent.”

Poor Katniss, who had always desperately tried to win their mother’s approval and who had sacrificed so much—her sister had offers to head up hospitals all around the world, but she had settled for Panem Hospital so that she could keep her family together.

Their mother was doing well in the facility that she was in now—and while Prim was at Johns Hopkins, it had been Katniss who had made the lone trips to see their mother.

Their mother seemed edgy around men that she didn’t know well so Peeta never came with his wife, despite always wanting to join her.

“I know she’s not normal,” Katniss said. “But, she was brilliant once. She was the head of Panem Hospital—she made it the facility that it is today.”

“We have to accept that she’s not going to come back,” Prim replied. “But for what it’s worth, you’re not going to be our mother. You’re going to go above and beyond to be a good mother for this kid—because you wanted him or her more than anything.”

A fresh set of tears rolled down Katniss’ olive face as she nodded and wiped her eyes. “Tell me something. Tell me anything to help me to forget this horrible visit.”

Prim met her sister’s eyes and said the first thing that came to her mind:

“I slept with Dr. Hawthorne.”

* * *

 

The plot thickens.

There will be more on Mrs. Everdeen in regards to her relationship with her daughters as well as with the father of her daughters. It will be discussed later—but Haymitch and Katherine Everdeen are already divorced.

Anyway as always, feedback is appreciate.

Until the next chapter!


	3. Part Three

Thank you for your wonderful feedback!

The characters of The Hunger Games Trilogy do not belong to me.

Over My Head

_Part Three_

Johanna Mason opened her eyes to find herself in an unfamiliar bed.

This had happened before—just not so quickly.

Two dates.

It had taken two back-to-back dates with Haymitch Abernathy before she had him on his back.

She must really like him.

Sitting up, Johanna looked around at the sparse but tasteful furnishings of his bedroom. It was decorated in earth tones—greens, beiges, and a little bit of grey to match his slate eyes.

She shivered remembering how dark they had turned last night and how suddenly every moment, every breath between them had become electrified until Johanna was just aching for that kiss—the one that would throw her over the edge.

The man did not disappoint.

Reaching down to the pile of thrown-off clothes, Johanna decided to forgo her little black dress and picked up Haymitch’s white dress shirt.  She buttoned it quickly catching the earthy, spicy scent that he wore off of the collar.

Turning her head and closing her eyes, Johanna took a deep inhale, surrounding herself in him.

This was pathetic, really.

Leaving the bedroom, she could hear the shower running and debated joining the man. However, her coffee needs overpowered her sexual ones and Johanna decided to head to the kitchen.

The kitchen was state-of-the art—all stainless steel, marble, with an island in the middle of it. A sudden memory of her sitting on the counter, her arms around his neck, and the skirt of her dress pushed over her hips suddenly wandered into her mind.

How many times had they done it? She was still a little woozy from the wine and the moonlight of last night.

Haymitch had already started a pot and so she rushed around the kitchen in search of a mug. Going to the first cupboard, Johanna was happy to find it filled with mugs. Searching for the perfect one, she stopped when one to the side caught her eye.

Taking it out, Johanna felt the blood drain from her face as she stared at the photo printed out on it.

It was a picture of Dr. Mellark and Prim.

From what she could gauge, Prim was still in college from the Yale sweatshirt she wore. Both of them were grinning at the camera and from Johanna’s observance, Dr. Mellark was a lot prettier (and friendlier-looking) when she smiled.

But, Johanna felt herself wane when she read the title underneath the mug: _World’s Best Dad_.

Oh God. She fucked—numerous, mind-blowing times—her boss’ _and_ her roommate’s dad.

“That fucker!”

Marching out of the kitchen with the mug in her hands, Johanna made her way into the bathroom and yanked open the shower door.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?” She held the mug out in her hands.

Haymitch turned to her and glanced at the object, his eyes amused at her rage. “It’s a mug.”

Johanna’s eyes widened at his flippancy—and his penis.

“But, why does it say ‘ _World’s Best Dad’_ on it?” she questioned. “SHIT! I just had sex with my boss’ dad! Prim will murder me in my sleep, because now that I’m living in her house—SHE HAS THE ABILITY TO!”

“You’re living with Prim in our old house?” he replied.

“And, I was starting to like you,” Johanna bemoaned, her wail echoing in the large, steam-filled room. “I mean—you have abs!” Her eyes went to his six-pack and the slight-V along his hip bone. “DAMN IT!”

“I’m not their father,” Haymitch calmly replied. He grinned roguishly at her. “You like me?”

“Not like we can do anything about it now,” she muttered.

“If you must know, I’m their stepfather,” he told her. “I married Katherine—Katniss and Prim’s mother—when Katniss was 15 and Prim was 11. We’re divorced now.” His eyes darkened in pain for a moment. “She’s not well.”

“Do you still love her?” Johanna found herself asking.

“No, not in that way.” Haymitch leaned his elbow against the tiled wall. “I was younger than her—an intern, like you—and I fell in love with my mentor. Katherine needed someone to take care of her daughters. Luckily, I adored them both.”

Her frown rose in a slight smile. She liked the way he spoke about Katniss and Prim—full of pride and love—and she had to admire that he probably helped them become the women they were now.

“The water is getting cold,” Haymitch told her. “Why don’t you just get in here? I’ll tell you the rest.” He gazed at her tenderly. “I like you, Johanna. Since the moment I saw you in that hallway. And, I think if you just let me explain then you could understand…and still like me. Maybe even go out with me again.”

She tilted her head to examine the man in front of her. Behind the snarky nature, there was a sincerity that Johanna didn’t see in a lot of people. She was never one to trust someone so quickly, but with him, it seemed natural.

After a moment, she placed the mug on the bathroom counter and unbuttoned her shirt.

Haymitch gave her an appreciative stare as she let the shirt fall to the floor.

“Fine,” Johanna replied in a slight huff. She stepped into the shower next to him. “But, no sex—not until you tell me everything.”

Haymitch held out his pinkie. “I swear.”

She hooked her pinkie along with his and was suddenly pulled into a kiss. Her arms moved to the nape of his neck feeling the warm water running in-between their bare bodies.

Johanna was starting to regret the whole ‘no-sex’ rule.

Finally, they pulled apart and Haymitch gave her a pleased smile.

“I thought I said no sex,” Johanna told him.

“You did.” His hand went to cup her cheek. “But, you never said anything about kissing.”

++++++

Prim walked into the kitchen of the Mellark home to find her brother-in-law already in his scrubs and drinking a cup of coffee. After the emotional turmoil of their visit with their mother, Peeta and Katniss insisted that she stayed over.

She agreed as long as she made her own way to the hospital. Nothing was wimpier than being driven to your internship by your brother and sister, who are both top-notch doctors.

“Morning,” her brother greeted her with a boyish smile.

Peeta always seemed to radiate a youthful spirit and it wasn’t much of a surprise when he chose to go into Neonatal surgery—a difficult, yet affirming unit. Her brother was optimistic and insightful when it came to his patients—and his family.

“Morning,” she grumbled tiredly as she dragged her sneakers along the dark tiling of their kitchen. Joining him on the large island of the kitchen, she pulled herself up onto the stool across from Peeta. “Where’s Katniss? What’s going on?”

“Katniss is still getting up since the baby is giving her morning sickness.” Peeta gave her a sly grin. “And I’m good…how’s it going with you?”

She could tell on his face that he knew about Gale.

“Who told you? It can’t be Katniss—she pinky-promised!”

“It was Cato,” Peeta told her and she looked at him in confusion. “He told me that he saw Gale at the bar, the same night that you were there…which was funny since he ditched the reception claiming that he had something important to do.” He put his mug down, his blue eyes concerned. “So, do I need to kick his ass?”

“What?” Prim retorted.

“He did the dirty with my little sister,” he replied. “And, there is a cardinal rule that brothers always defend their sisters’ honors.”

“I’m not so little anymore,” she said though she was endeared by his protectiveness. “And, your sister’s honor has been gone since a tequila-filled Spring Break in Puerto Vallarta.”

“Talk about crossing the border,” Peeta responded with a slight smile. “But really, should Katniss and I be worried?”

“No. We agreed that we would be professional. I didn’t know that he was a doctor at the hospital,” Prim insisted. “Plus—my number one priority is being a great doctor.”

“Great doctors can be in great relationships,” her brother replied. “It’s not an easy path, but it is a fulfilling one. I’m lucky that your sister chose me—and she could have had anyone she wanted in Phi Beta Pi.”

Prim chuckled. “I forgot that you were in that Fraternity!”

“Yes,” Peeta said with an embarrass nod. “A bunch of med students in one house trying not to kill one another. I remember the first time I met your sister at one of our parties. I asked her to marry me then and there.”

Prim smiled remembering the story; how Peeta had sauntered up to her sister, went on his knees, and declared—very loudly, according to Katniss—that he wanted to marry her. Prim remembered because when Katniss told her the story for the first time, a small smile played on her lips, and her eyes glowed brighter than Prim had ever seen.

It was then Prim knew that Peeta Mellark was going to be a game-changer for her stubborn, beautiful sister.

“You were that sure?” she responded.

“That kind of chemistry can’t be denied,” her brother said. “Katniss is beautiful, intelligent, and strong. God—and that first look…that first smile that she gave me; it was like a bolt of lightning. I even called my Dad that night and told him that I met the woman I was marrying. I was that absolute. I’ll always remember that feeling and I keep the surety with me, especially when it gets tough in the Neonatal Unit.”

“You can’t always count on that jolt,” Prim argued. “There has to be something more…something real.”

“Okay, then I will give you a second example,” Peeta said. “The second time that I asked Katniss to marry me was the day that she told me about your mom.” His usually cheerful face fell into a frown. “After that first episode when she tried to…and Katniss had to get home to you and Haymitch. She didn’t have a car so I drove her to your house. That day was the day that she kissed me.”

“But, she still said no.”

Prim still couldn’t remember that day without cringing. Her mother had been in an especially manic state, threatening to hurt herself and even Haymitch, who stood in front of Prim to protect her. She had called Katniss in tears as the police spoke to their stepfather and their mother was led off in an ambulance.

“Yes, but Prim,” Peeta started. “You know your sister. You know that she has to see you as someone worth trusting to tell you something as personal as that. I know how hard it was on you during that period. Haymitch and Katherine were divorcing. Your mother was starting to fall apart—and both of you were stuck in the middle. I know that it wasn’t easy—but Katniss let me in. I knew more than ever that she was the one because of that strength and fire in her… and between us.”

“How do you know if it’s worth letting someone see you weak?” She met his stare with tear-filled eyes. “I can’t just let anyone in. Yes, I like Dr. Hawthorne…Gale…but my priority is to be great doctor—and I don’t know if I can be if anyone sees how weak I am.”

Peeta took a sip from his mug as he mulled over her words.

Setting his cup down, he patted her hand.

“You will know who to trust and not to trust,” her brother said, sincerity all over his features. “You have great instincts and you’re going to be a wonderful doctor. Katniss and I can’t wait to watch it happen.”

She swiped her eyes quickly before turning to him again.

“Now tell me about the last proposal!” Prim put her hands to her mouth in excitement. She always loved hearing this one. “This one is my favorite.”

Peeta turned red. “I hate telling everyone that story! I started telling everyone a fake one just so I could pretend that wasn’t how it happened.”

“Oh, come on!” She laughed at his scarlet face. “It was just an accident.”

“Fine.” Peeta huffed. “Katniss and I…were cuddling—”

“After-sex cuddling,” Prim corrected with a wicked grin.

Her sister could never keep a straight face when it came to this story.

“And, I was going to take her out to dinner—and propose then. Except that as I was getting up from bed, I fell…”

“On your erection,” she added and tried not to snort out in laughter.

Peeta looked about ready to explode. “So, she took to me to the hospital with an ice pack on my groin and they gave me morphine for the pain…”

“And, the morphine had him telling everyone his entire plan,” Katniss finished as she entered the room.

She went to her husband and placed a kiss on his lips.

“About how he had the ring that his father had air-mailed and that we were going to my favorite Italian place. Then, Peeta started telling everyone about how beautiful and wonderful I was and how great I was in the sack…and Haymitch, who was running the ER in that hospital, just happened to hear how his stepdaughter could put her leg over her head.”

“And, when you woke up,” Prim finished. “Katniss was wearing your ring.”

Peeta looked to his wife and reached to kiss the top of her hand.

“Then, I said, ‘You’re going to marry me—real or not real?’”

Katniss reached to tidy her husband’s hair, showing off the solid gold, emerald ring and matching band. She gazed at her husband affectionately and for a moment, Prim wondered if maybe she could have nth of what they had.

“I said, ‘Real’.”

++++++

“Mags is now awake since her last seizure and has given consent to proceed with the surgery,” Dr. Hawthorne informed Katniss as they walked down the hallway towards the lab. “I think we should have Dr. Everdeen scrub in.”

“Dr. Hawthorne,” Katniss interjected as they found themselves in an empty hallway. “I don’t know if Prim—”

“Dr. Everdeen,” Gale corrected.

Katniss nodded. “Right—Dr. Everdeen. I don’t know if she’s ready for this.” She looked up at her friend. “She hasn’t even been at the hospital for a week.”

“Katniss,” her friend said gently. “Prim—Dr. Everdeen—is more than capable. She was the one who discovered the burst clot and she should get to scrub in. You want her to be brilliant? Then, stop treating her like she’s that little girl in that high school photo. She is a grown woman, capable of making her own decisions, especially when they pertain to her career.”

“I know about you two,” Katniss told him quietly, her eyes boring into his identical ones. “So does Peeta—and he’s not happy but he will try to butt out. Are you sure that you don’t want her in this surgery for ulterior motives?”

Gale was taken aback.

Yes, he was attracted to Prim and he wasn’t denying it.

However, Prim was career-driven and being on that track meant that she wasn’t about to be distracted by a one-night stand. He admired her perseverance and intelligence, not to mention her bedside manner.

Watching her with Mags had only proven the kind of great doctor that she was going to become.

“No,” he replied curtly after a moment. “Don’t undermine my belief in Dr. Everdeen’s capabilities just because we spent one night together.”

Gale and Katniss walked out of the hallway and towards the ICU.

“I didn’t say that,” Katniss argued. “I have a right to worry! She is all I have left in terms of blood.” She stopped her steps, her hand going to the slight swell. “Well, not the only person now…I forget that I’m having a kid sometimes—”

“You’re pregnant?” Gale clapped her shoulder gently. “Congratulations! It’s going to amazing.”

“God—I hope so,” Katniss breathed nervously. “Peeta is so excited. We’re at fourteen weeks. We heard the baby’s heartbeat last week.”

“It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” He gave her a sad smile. “This is a good time for you.”

They found themselves outside of Mags’ room in the ICU. The room was glass-paneled and through it, they saw Prim sitting by Mags’ side, chatting with the women and discreetly taking notes.

From what they could see, it looked like she was giving the older woman an awareness test.

“You’re right,” Katniss told him. “She’s going to be okay. Prim is a lot stronger than I am and I have to let her do her own thing. She will never create a name for herself if I’m always looking over her shoulder.”

“Exactly.”

Gale looked at the beautiful woman in the room with Mags. Katniss could see the regret in his eyes.

He had not had it easy either from what Peeta had told her.

“Be patient with her,” Katniss found herself advising. “The most beautiful things take time to come about.”

++++++

“Patient is Enobaria Jacobs, brought in because of severe cramping, two days ago,” Cato began as he stood next to Dr. Mellark who looked over the patient chart. “Patient was given terbutaline because of possible preterm labor.”

Dr. Mellark nodded for him to continue.

“Mother’s vitals are perfect as are the fetus’—”

“Chloe,” the woman in the bed in front of them interrupted with a tired smile. “Her name is Chloe.”

Peeta smiled at the woman and her anxious husband. Brutus, who was standing next to his wife, had an iron grip on her little hand. Next to her brawling husband, Enobaria looked tiny—even with her stomach protruding from her slender frame.

He imagined that Katniss would look like that when she got further into her pregnancy.

“That’s a beautiful name,” Peeta told them. “Why did you pick it out?”

“After my mother,” Brutus said with a proud grin. “She was a tiny little lady but she popped two very big babies out of her, and then got right back to running our house.”

“Before she passed away, Mom told me that we would have our baby,” Enobaria informed him, her dark eyes shining. “We had been trying for so long and prayed so hard. Fertility drugs, IVF, surrogate interviews, adoption lawyers…it was all too much. Then four months after Mom left us, I was pregnant—it was a miracle.”

“I almost think my Mom must’ve demanded a meeting with someone up there to get us our baby,” Brutus told Peeta and Cato, a grin on his face.

“Well, we are keeping a close eye on both of you,” Peeta said. “From the sonograms, it looks like part of your uterus has torn and you are leaking fluid. I’m advising that we repair it as soon as we can and then place you on bed rest for the foreseeable future.”

“Will we get to leave the hospital?” Enobaria asked. “After the surgery?”

“You’re at 28 weeks right now,” he said to his anxious patient. “I’d feel better if we could get you to 30 to 32 weeks before talking about releasing you.”

The couple in front of him looked at one another before nodding in agreement.

Peeta turned to Cato. “Make sure that Op 1 is ready for us. Take her vitals prior to—and watch for any spikes in blood pressure. Then, you can scrub up—”

Cato looked to him in shock. “What?”

“You can’t sit on the sidelines for the rest of your time here,” Dr. Mellark told him. He looked to the couple. “I will see you an hour before surgery.”

The man left the room, leaving Cato with the couple.

“Are we going to be okay?” Brutus asked him.

“Dr. Mellark is our top neonatal surgeon,” Cato assured the man. “Your wife is going to be fine. I promise.”

++++++

“Hey,” Thresh greeted Prim. Sitting next to her on the stretcher, he gave her a smile. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about the whole Mockingjay thing.”

Prim shook her head and gave him a smile. “It’s okay. I just have to toughen up.”

They had reached the eighth hour of their shift and she would scrubbing-up in thirty minutes for her first surgery.

She, Primrose Everseen, would be assisting in sealing a clot and helping a woman to get her life back after a horrific set of seizures that could have debilitated or killed her.

“I heard you’re going in for Dr. Hawthorne’s surgery,” Thresh continued. “We’re all going to be up there in the viewing room, cheering you on.”

“I’m going to screw it up,” she suddenly told him.

Putting an arm around her, Thresh rubbed her shoulder consolingly. “You’re going to do fine. I mean, you’re very smart. Dr. Odair was telling me how impressed Dr. Hawthorne is with your cleverness. Also, you do come from some good family genes.”

She rested her head on his shoulder. “You know about the rest of my family, don’t you?”

“I won’t tell if you won’t tell,” he promised.

“You two look cozy,” Madge said as she emerged from around the corner along with Johanna. She sat next to Prim as Johanna went to Thresh’s side. “Well…as cozy as you can get on a stretcher. By the way, thank you so much for letting us stay at your place, Prim. Your house is huge—what did your parents do?”

“It’s not important,” Prim told her offhandedly before turning to Johanna. “So, how was your date?’

Johanna turned to her, eyes wide and cheeks bright. “Fine…great…”

“Oh, come off it,” Madge said, “She’s been on two dates with him—and the last time, she didn’t come home.”

Prim grinned at her friend. “That sounds exciting.”

Johanna gave her an anxious smile. “Yeah…we’ll see. Where’s Cato?”

“He’s in surgery with the other Dr. Mellark,” Prim informed them.

“That chickadee?” Johanna snorted. “My God—and I thought that I was getting somewhere by helping out in Cosmetic Surgery. I didn’t know that Dr. Odair ran that unit, too.”

“Yeah,” Thresh said. “He was telling me about skin grafting for burn unit patients—takes a lot of willpower and patience for both doctor and patient.”

“Speaking of Odair…” Madge signaled. The sound of footsteps coming towards them revealed Dr. Odair—tall, bronze-haired, and sea-green eyed—coming towards them, an easy smile on his face.

“So this is where you hide,” Dr. Odair said jovially. He nodded at the two interns he knew. “Johanna, Thresh…” Then, he looked to Prim and Madge. “And you are?”

“Dr. Madge Undersee,” Madge introduced herself, her cheeks going pink.

Then, Dr. Odair turned to Prim and under his gaze, she found her own face warming.

“Dr. Primrose Everdeen.”

“Ahh…so you are the lovely Dr. Everdeen.” He reached for her hand to shake it. “I heard about you.”

She panicked for a moment, not knowing exactly what he heard.

Dr. Odair smirked. “Katniss’ little sister, right?”

“Outside of the hospital—yes,” Prim responded in slight relief. “But, inside the hospital—just Dr. Everdeen.”

The man noticed the crispness in her voice but it didn’t deter him from winking at her.

“Dr. Odair, please refrain from harassing the interns.” A beautiful, dark-haired woman approached and gave them a smile before glaring at the man next to her. “They are all on their last breaks.”

“I got bored,” Dr. Odair pouted at the woman, who was tying her long hair back. “Unless you want to go get some coffee with me, Dr. Cresta.” He immediately turned his charm on. “I’ve been asking for a year.”

“You’ve been doing interns in-between then,” Dr. Cresta responded in a bristling tone, her emerald eyes flaring. She went quiet before meeting his eyes once more. “Just let it go.” Going to Madge, she gave the woman a tight smile. “It’s time for rounds.”

Madge waved goodbye before quickly disappearing with Dr. Cresta through the double doors down the hall.

After a moment, Dr. Odair looked to them and Prim could see the downtrodden look in his eyes.

She knew that look anywhere.

Prim could easily spot a man in love from a mile away.

“Dr. Mason,” the man said after a moment. “We also have rounds before going to the ER.”

“See you two later,” Johanna said and then smiled at Prim. “Good luck. I’ll come to the viewing room once I’m done with rounds.”

Then, it was just Prim and Thresh.

She laid her head back on his shoulder. “I’m scared.”

“Don’t be,” her friend assured her. “Isn’t this why we’re here? To learn to be braver?”

“What do you mean?” Prim asked.

“As doctors, we get to stare death in the face,” Thresh explained. “We get to fight that motherfucker every day by healing our patients and every time we do, death gets a little smaller and weaker.”

Prim laughed. “So, we’re fighting death with a scalpel?”

Thresh nodded. “Or chemotherapy, or medication, or even other people’s body parts…”

“Thank you,” she told her friend. “I needed to hear that.”

“Dr. Everdeen.” They both looked up to see Gale approaching and she straightened up. His grey eyes were stony at seeing the two on the stretcher, her head on Thresh’s shoulder, and too close to look professional. “You ready? We have pre-surgery prep.”

Nodding, Prim stood up. “I’m ready.”

She waved to Thresh before joining Dr. Hawthorne who was moving a little quicker than her legs could carry her.

“What were you talking about?” Dr. Hawthorne asked curiously, his eyes avoiding hers.

Prim grinned to herself. “Fighting motherfucking death.”

++++++

“Doctor,” Nurse Trinket informed Peeta. “All vitals are steady.”

“Okay,” he responded before looking to Cato, who assisted in holding the clamp that kept Enobaria’s cervix open. “What is next, Dr. Snow?”

“Now that we have repaired the ruptured area from the patient’s uterine wall,” Cato said in a nervous voice. “We can begin to suture to prevent any more fluid leakage. Patient will have to remain on bed rest but is expected to deliver at the appropriate time.”

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

“Doctor—patient’s blood pressure has shot up,” another nurse called out.

“1 MILLIGRAM OF LABETALOL! STAT!” Peeta called out as he rushed over to look at Enobaria’s readings on the screen; her systolic reading was in the 200’s—and climbing.

“What is going on?” Cato asked as the doctor pushed passed him.

“She’s stroking out,” the doctor responded. “NURSE TRINKET! VITALS ON THE FETUS!”

“HEART RATE IS DROPPING, DOCTOR!” The nurse responded.

“Prepare for an emergency caesarean,” Peeta said. “We have to get that baby out of her!” Walking over to Enobaria, he could see that her blood pressure had not lowered. He looked to a masked nurse. “Another .25 milligrams—if that doesn’t work then we are taking the baby out immediately.”

Shakily, he went to Enobaria and opened her eyelids to see if there was any reaction. Her dark eyes, chillingly like Katniss’, did not dilate as the light hit them.

Fuck—she was gone.

“What happened?” The small voice belonged to the intern who he was in charge of.

“The patient has just suffered a massive stroke. There was no dilation in her eyes indicating that Enobaria is unresponsive. It was likely an aneurysm. There is nothing we can do,” he told Cato in a hard voice. “These things happen.” Peeta turned to the rest of the team. “Let’s get her baby out of there.”

“Doctor.” He looked to Nurse Trinket who shook her head, a crestfallen look in her eyes. “No heart rate.”

Peeta stared at the still fetal monitor and for the first time in a long time, he felt the crushing pain of not being able to deliver a live baby. The stroke had come quickly with no rhyme or reason but had left a devastating mess in its path.

It wasn’t long before they heard the long drawn-out beep coming from Enobaria’s heart monitor. The woman had also signed an affidavit stating that she did not want any life-prolonging options with the only exception being that she would be kept alive if it was for her daughter’s sake.

The silent staff waited for him to speak.

Shaking his head, Peeta looked around before meeting Nurse Trinket’s eyes. She was a veteran of the OR and knew how it went.

“Time of death,” Peeta reported. “10:26PM.”

++++++

Maybe it was the cheering coming from the observation room, but Prim felt a surge of excitement rush through her as she stood beside Dr. Hawthorne, who looked through the surgical viewer, to repair Mags’ clot.

It had been a miniscule but effective clot and had caused the woman considerable, sudden health problems. However, it seemed that everything was going smoothly.

Briefly, her eyes went up to see that her sister was there as well as Haymitch. Her stepfather gave her a nod before she went back to observing the surgery.

“Dr. Everdeen,” Gale called out quietly. He pulled away to give her an assuring nod. “Come look.”

Prim held in her smile before walking over to the viewer next to him. They resembled binoculars but held precision lenses that allowed her to see Gale’s meticulous work as he weaved through the delicate tissue around the ruptured clot that had traveled to Mags’s brain.

Gale was definitely skilled, quick and efficient.

It was beautiful to watch.

She pulled away slightly from the viewer to find him looking at her, her heart beat quickening at the sight of him.

He was beautiful.

“Dr. Everdeen,” he suddenly said. “Would you like to assist in closing the incision?”

Behind the printed head cover and the mask, his eyes were bright as he watched her approach to stand in front of him. Prim took the stitching material that the assisting nurse handed her and began to carefully close the opening.

“Do you think you could learn to love doing this?” Gale asked as she looked through the viewer to close the incision carefully.

“Yes.” Her heart skipped feeling him close, his breath against her neck. “Yes, I could.”

++++++

“How could it all go so wrong?” Cato questioned as he washed up. “Enobaria was fine before the surgery. All her vitals looked great—”

“It was just an act of God or an anomaly of the human body,” Peeta told him as he went to the sink next to Cato. In front of him, he could see Enobaria’s sheeted body, the prominent bump of her belly sticking out. “Nobody will ever know why.”

“But, I promised Brutus that she would be okay.”

Peeta felt the hot burning anger suddenly rush through him. “You did what?”

“I-I-I promised!” Cato’s eyes looked at him anxiously.

He didn’t know how it happened, but Peeta was suddenly grabbing the front of Cato’s scrubs to slam him against the opposite wall.

The nurses in the OR turned to see what was happening to find Dr. Mellark ready to strangle his intern.

“YOU NEVER TELL A PATIENT OR THEIR FAMILY SOMETHING LIKE THAT!”

“Dr. Mellark!” Nurse Trinket rushed into the room from the OR to see the frightened intern on the verge of tears. “Let him go...”

Begrudgingly, Peeta released his hold on his scrubs. His cold blue eyes blazed and Cato shrunk under his stare.

“You are now in charge of telling Brutus that his wife and child are dead,” he told Cato in a steely whisper.

Peeta walked out before he could do anything worse.

++++++

“You did well,” Dr. Hawthorne said as they made their way into the elevator to work on their notes for Mags’ surgery. “You really have a gift. Like you were just born to be in an OR.”

“I got it from my mother,” Prim told him. She looked over at him. “I suppose Katniss told you who she is.”

“Of course,” Gale replied and turned to smile at her. “Who in the medical world doesn’t know Katherine Everdeen?”

“No one in my classes knew,” she said. “Neither did the interns until one of them ratted me out.”

“It just makes it a little more harder to prove yourself,” he responded with a wry smile. “I guess it wouldn’t help if they found out what happened between us.”

Prim turned to him, her chest sinking. “No, it wouldn’t.”

Carefully, Gale approached her until he was just a breath away from touching her lips. She could see how dark his eyelashes were and that his greys were lined with navy blue.

Prim wondered if she saw any of these things that first night together.

She wished that she could remember one thing… _anything,_ really…from that night that would allow her to understand how she could just throw all her inhibitions away.

“I’d like a goodbye kiss—since we’re not supposed to see each other…in that way,” he told her, his warm, sweet breath against her mouth. “Would you let me?”

Instead of replying, Prim closed her eyes and waited.

++++++

Cato wrung his hands nervously as he looked out at the waiting room. Brutus was there along with an older couple. By the look of their dark hair and caramel features, they were obviously Enobaria’s parents.

“There’s no sense in hesitating.” Cato turned to see Nurse Trinket watching him. “I’m sure the wait is already killing them.” Her hand went to his shoulder. “You shouldn’t have said what you did. But, lesson learned and now you will always remember Enobaria. Then, you’ll always know to never make promises that you can’t keep.”

“Thanks…” He thought for a moment as he looked to the pretty bare-faced woman. “…Effie.”

“Anytime.” With a final squeeze on his shoulder, the nurse left him to break the news.

Taking a breath, Cato walk towards the trio and his chest constricted seeing the flowers and balloon beside them.

When Brutus spotted him, the man quickly stood up.

“These are Enobaria’s parents,” he told Cato. “Harris and Emilia.”

The older couple nodded at him and Cato could see that Enobaria had inherited her dark, almond eyes from her mother.

“How is she?” Brutus asked. “And, Chloe?”

Cato pushed the words from his mouth. “I’m sorry, Brutus.”

“What are you talking about?” the man asked, worry rising in his voice.

“Dr. Mellark completed the repair and we had finished suturing Enobaria’s opening,” he explained. “It happened quickly. Her blood pressure suddenly spiked and Dr. Mellark ordered some medicine to try to lower it. Chloe’s vitals were still steady at this point. However, Enobaria’s blood pressure didn’t lower and we ordered more medicine.”

“Dr. Snow,” Brutus urged him, his voice on the verge of breaking. “Please don’t tell me—”

“When we checked Enobaria for responsiveness, there was none,” Cato told him, his voice choking. “It was likely an aneurysm and Chloe just went with her. Your wife signed a form stating that she wanted no life-prolonging procedures done unless it would extend Chloe’s life. So, there was nothing else we could do.”

Enobaria’s mother let out a wail, crumbling against her husband, who was weeping into her short hair.

For someone so large, Brutus seemed to shrink in front of him.

Cato took a step forward. “Brutus—”

“Don’t.” The man held his hand out to stop him. Turning, he went to Enobaria’s parents and pulled them both into his arms.

Turning, Cato walked back to the double doors willing himself to ignore Brutus’ heartbroken sobs.

++++++

Opening the front door, Katniss quickly removed her raincoat on the hook. The rain had started halfway through her drive and she was lucky that she kept her spare coat in the car.

“Peeta?” she called out into the dark house.

Hearing the faint sounds of music coming from upstairs, Katniss ascended the stairs making the left to their bedroom. She walked past the in-progress nursery and smiled to herself.

Despite her anxiety, she was overjoyed inside—her heart leaping at the thought of holding her child in her arms.

_“Despite all our shuffling_   
_Our train wreck a-talking_   
_Despite all our outfield saves_   
_Treading water_   
_The sea was your daughter_   
_But now she's gone_   
_Gone…”_

Walking into the dark room, she found Peeta sitting at the end of their bed, still in his scrubs. He was resting his elbows on his knees; his back hunched as he stared ahead.

As she approached, her husband snapped out of his trance and she could see the tears staining his handsome, weary face.

It had been one of those days.

Going to Peeta, she stood in front of him and he wrapped his arms around her lower half, bring her close so he could press his face to where their child rested in her womb.

These were the days where Katniss knew that no words could help.

So she simply pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

 After a moment, he began to weep against her.

_“It's alright_   
_Honey, it's alright_   
_It's alright to be…alone…”_

* * *

 

So, it’s probably best that you know that I am not in the medical field before you message me and ask what the hell do I know about being in a hospital.

However, my mother was a nurse for twenty-seven years and I was a Nursing Assistant for a while.

Terbutaline is a drug used to help postpone labor while Labetalol is an intravenous drug that is supposed to stop the sudden onset of high blood pressure. I use the medical names for these drugs and not the brand name as I don’t want there to be any trademarking issues.

I think that it’s pretty scary for Peeta because Enobaria and Brutus have a similar story to him and Katniss. I can’t help but wonder how this will affect him being in the Neonatal ward as well as his feelings about the pregnancy.

Am I the only one seeing other pairings emerging?

Song: “Honey, It’s Alright”—Gregory Alan Isakov

I now turn you over to my other co-writers for the next few chapters as I continue to work on some of my solo projects.

Happy Reading!

-JLaLa __  
  



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